Bus hostess allegedly raped by guard

Crowd gathers outside Vehari DHQ Hospital to protest

VEHARI:

A private bus company guard allegedly raped an 18-year-old hostess in a moving bus at gunpoint. The victim girl was shifted to DHQ Hospital Vehari in critical condition, while police registered a case and arrested the accused. Social organizations and women staged a protest against the incident.

The guard of a private bus traveling from Karachi to Lahore allegedly raped the 18-year-old bus hostess at gunpoint. The bus driver was reportedly also involved in the incident with the guard, identified as Shiraz.

The victim said that when the bus reached Rahim Yar Khan, the staff were changed and she was sent to Lahore on this bus. When the bus reached Melsi, all passengers disembarked and the empty bus left for Vehari. Shiraz then allegedly called her to the back seat and allegedly raped her at gunpoint. She informed rescue 15 about the incident after reaching Vehari.

According to DSP Khalid Javed, Daniwal police station registered a case after the victim's medical examination and the accused was arrested.

When news of the tragic incident broke, a large number of citizens, including women, demonstrated outside the hospital to express solidarity with the victim. The protesters demanded that IG Punjab, RPO Multan and the newly-appointed DPO Isa Khan take immediate notice of the incident.

Sexual assaults on inter-city transports are not uncommon, with a high-profile incident having occurred on the Bahauddin-Zakariya Express in May 2022.

A woman travelling from Multan to Karachi via Bahauddin Zakariya Express was allegedly gang-raped by railway staff. All three suspects involved in the heinous crime have been arrested by Railway Police, Express News reported. A case was registered at City Police Station in Karachi and the ticket-checker Zahid, Train Manager Aaqib and another person identified as Zohaib were nominated in the case.

As per the FIR, the victim, a resident of Karachi's Orangi Town, had gone to Muzaffargarh to visit her children on May 26th 2022. She left Muzaffargarh for Karachi the very next day but could not get a ticket from Multan station. The woman boarded the train without a ticket, but she had to travel without a seat.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2023.